KUO’S EYES

Film, 28′ 48”, 2017, Aspect Ratio: 16:9, Language: Italian (English subtitles).

After suffering a brutal attack, little Kuo is found in the woods without his eyes. With the help of his stuffed animal Bainfu, whose bright red eyes Kuo uses as a guide, he sets off on a journey to find the mysterious faceless woman who stole his sight from him.

Kuo’s Eyes was inspired by the true story of a boy who was found without his eyes in 2013 – the victim of an apparently unmotivated family drama. As I followed this boy’s tragedy on the news and wished for his recovery, I started to imagine a story where he would find the person who had taken his eyes and be able to get them back. The story was initially conceived as an illustrated book, but eventually became a film.

Shot inside an abandoned church in my hometown – a small city in the north of Italy – Kuo’s Eyes is entirely self – produced and self-made. I opted to shoot the whole film in the same space because I wanted to create a sense of theatricality and spacial awareness which would have been lost otherwise. The film has an original soundtrack composed by the Australian musical trio Golden Fur.